Contact us

Meet the Faculty

Steven D. Paulson

Professor of Systematic Theology

Th.D. (Lutheran School of Theology)

Ordained (ELCA)

M.Th. (Lutheran School of Theology)

M.Div. (Luther Seminary)

Biography

Steven Paulson joined the Luther Seminary faculty as associate professor of systematic theology in the fall of 1998 after serving as assistant professor of religion at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., where he had been since 1993.

He was pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Washington Island, Wis., from 1990 to 1993. His experience also includes two years of work as a research librarian at JKM Library in Chicago and five years as a psychiatric counselor at Fairview Hospitals in Minneapolis.

Paulson is a Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., and earned the master of divinity degree from Luther Seminary in 1984. He holds both the master of theology (1988) and doctor of theology (1992) degrees from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.

He has been honored with the Goethe Institute Scholarship (1985) and the North American Ministerial Fellowship (1980-84).

Paulson currently serves on the editorial boards of Word and World and both the Lutheran Quarterly and Dialog and has written articles for both journals. He is the author of Luther for Armchair Theologians and editor of A More Radical Gospel, The Captivation of the Will, and The Preached God all written by Gerhard Forde.

Featured Work

A Brief Introduction to Martin Luther

Westminster John Knox Press (Jan. 2017)

In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther started a reformation movement that revolutionized Europe and the history of the Christian faith. His far-reaching reforms of theological understanding and church practices dramatically changed both church and society in Europe and beyond. In honor of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Steven Paulson provides an engaging, concise introduction to Martin Luther's life and the major themes in his theology.

Lutheran Theology

Bloomsbury T&T Clark (April, 2011)

The Doing Theology series introduces the major Christian traditions and their way of theological reflection. The volumes focus on the origins of a particular theological tradition, its foundations, key concepts, eminent thinkers and historical development. The series is aimed at readers who want to learn more about their own theological heritage and identity: theology undergraduates, students in ministerial training and church study groups.

Courses

A study of the confessions of the Lutheran Church as set forth in the Book of Concord. The documents of the reforming movement, viewed in the historical settings, are explicated in the light of their witness to the centrality of the gospel of justification by faith. Consideration is given to the contemporary importance of this witness for the life and mission of the Lutheran Church in a post-secular age. A central question of the course focuses on what it means to confess today in ecumenical engagement, in culturally diverse situations and interfaith contexts, and how that confession is shaped by those contexts.

A study of the confessions of the Lutheran Church as set forth in the Book of Concord. The documents of the reforming movement, viewed in the historical settings, are explicated in the light of their witness to the centrality of the gospel of justification by faith. Consideration is given to the contemporary importance of this witness for the life and mission of the Lutheran Church in a post-secular age. A central question of the course focuses on what it means to confess today in ecumenical engagement, in culturally diverse situations and interfaith contexts, and how that confession is shaped by those contexts.

This course provides a comprehensive, coherent presentation of the articles of faith in the Triune God, drawing upon biblical, theological, confessional and contemporary resources. Together we will cultivate theological imagination in view of communities and neighbors through current questions, challenges to faith, and awareness of diverse contexts. Prerequisite: SG 0401 Thinking Theologically Confessing Publicly
Equivalency: ST0415 or ST0425 or ST0435 ST Core Course

Considers “two kinds of love,” and the biblical, historical and systematic teaching of the cross in history, concentrating on the dramatic development of the theology of the cross in Martin Luther. The importance in mission and modern uses and abuses of the theology are considered.

This course provides a comprehensive, coherent presentation of the articles of faith in the Triune God, drawing upon biblical, theological, confessional and contemporary resources. Together we will cultivate theological imagination in view of communities and neighbors through current questions, challenges to faith, and awareness of diverse contexts. Prerequisite: SG 0401 Thinking Theologically Confessing Publicly
Equivalency: ST Core Course

This course is a semester long meditation on death and its death, namely resurrection. Topics related to final things -- judgment, death, new creation, and resurrection -- are considered in light of biblical, systematic, liturgical, art-historical, and philosophical resources. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of the Bible and systematic theology in the construction of a Christian theology of death, dying, and resurrection. Emphasis is placed on the material's usefulness to the ministry of the church, including but not limited to the ministry of the sacraments, the preaching of the Gospel, care for the dying and catechesis.

What does it mean to be a public witness to Jesus Christ in a pluralistic, post-secular, consumer society? Using classical and contemporary thinkers in systematic theology, students will think critically about how and in what ways God encounters us in and through our neighbors, calling us to examine our own assumptions about who God is and what God does in law and promise. Centered in Jesus Christ crucified and risen, the course examines how justification/sanctification by faith alone turns us outward from the self through the Holy Spirit to participate in God's work of reconciliation, justice, and peace with our neighbor and for our neighbor. Students develop their identity as Christian leaders and grow in their theological capacity to offer public leadership in a wide range of ministry settings.

This course provides instruction and practice in theologically-based practical reasoning for ministerial contexts, including a comprehensive, coherent presentation of the articles of faith, and cultivating theological imagination in view of communities and neighbors through current questions, challenges to faith, and awareness of diverse contexts. Each class will focus on a particular article of the creed or related Christian doctrines for the practices of ministry. Focus: God the Creator
PRE-WORK REQUIRED BEGINS JANUARY 2, 2016.

This course provides instruction and practice in theologically-based practical reasoning for ministerial contexts, including a comprehensive, coherent presentation of the articles of faith, and cultivating theological imagination in view of communities and neighbors through current questions, challenges to faith, and awareness of diverse contexts. Each class will focus on a particular article of the creed or related Christian doctrines for the practices of ministry. Focus: Jesus the Savior - J-TERM; MEETS AT SIOUX FALLS SEMINARY IN SIOUX FALLS, SD ON JANUARY 3 (4-8:30PM), JANUARY 4-5, JANUARY 7, JANUARY 10-12, JANUARY 14, JANUARY 17-19, JANUARY 21 (6-8:30PM)

This course provides instruction and practice in theologically-based practical reasoning for ministerial contexts, including a comprehensive, coherent presentation of the articles of faith, and cultivating theological imagination in view of communities and neighbors through current questions, challenges to faith, and awareness of diverse contexts. Each class will focus on a particular article of the creed or related Christian doctrines for the practices of ministry. Focus: Jesus the Savior J-TERM 2015-2016 - LIVE STREAMING VIA ADOBE CONNECT - JANUARY 3 4-8:30PM; AND JANUARY 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21 6-8:30PM